Friendship's Bond
by BeCarefulWhoYouPretendToBe
Summary: After an accident at the end of their fourth year Harry Ron and Hermione find their souls bound. A soul bond in the wizarding world is both dangerous and illegal. Will they be able to live their lives while still protecting their secret? Or will their greatest weakness become their most powerful strength. Set during fifth year. Just friendship no romance.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people! So this is a soul binding story about Harry Ron and Hermione but it is only friendship no romance because there are enough soul bond romances out there. This is just chapter one of what I hope will be a long and exciting story and I have never written a Harry Potter story before even through I have read each book countless times so go easy on me. **

**Enjoy the story!**

Harry slipped through the barrier into the muggle world, dragging his trunk behind him with Hedwig's cage balanced precariously on top. He moved aside quickly so that Ron and Hermione could follow him through, both acting as normally as possible to avoid attracting unwanted attention from the muggles who were bustling about the crowded train station. He spotted the Weasleys a little ways away, beaming and waving at them and accompanied by a young couple that Harry recognised as Hermione's parents.

Mrs. Weasley hurried over to them. "Ron! Oh it's so good to see you. Harry dear how are you?" she gave him a quick and rather violent hug before darting around him to greet the twins and Ginny.

"Hello Harry. Last week of school alright?" Mr. Weasley shook his hand, clearly only half paying attention as he soaked in the surrounding muggles with wide eyes.

"Not bad." Harry lied, hoping to change the subject. He started to ask for news about Voldemort but was interrupted as the giant black dog that was Sirius bounded over to him, tail waving happily. Harry crouched down to eye level with his godfather, glaring at him disapprovingly but grinning despite himself. "You shouldn't be here Padfoot; what if someone sees you?"

"Oh relax mate. No one will guess it's him." Ron appeared at Harry's shoulder, smiling down at the dog. "Hey Sirius. How are you?"

"I think Harry's right Ron." Hermione had detached herself from her parents and was now on Harry's other side, surveying the scene with her eyebrows bunched in anxiety. "There is just too much at risk for this level of recklessness."

Even though he himself had reprimanded Sirius just moments before Harry found himself sharing a look with Ron and rolling him eyes in exasperation. Then he noticed something over his friend's shoulder.

Vernon Dursley was marching towards him, alternating rapidly between shooting nervous glances at the small crowd of witches and wizards and glowering at his nephew. He came to a stop in front of the trio, glaring down at Harry, who stood slowly to meet him. He looked considerably angrier than usual and Harry realised that he must still be furious about the ton tongue toffee incident of the previous summer.

"We're leaving." He said shortly and turned on his heal, clearly expecting Harry to follow him.

Hermione sighed and gave Harry a hug, kissing him on the cheek. "Have a nice summer Harry, I'll see you in a couple of weeks I expect."

"Thanks." Harry mumbled, turning to say goodbye to Ron but before he could he felt his hair grabbed roughly from behind, and then he was being tugged violently backwards.

He twisted with some difficulty to see uncle Vernon's face inches from his, breath smelling strongly on brandy. "I said we're going, _boy._" He started to pull Harry bodily towards the exit, Harry stumbling along painfully but quickly found his way blocked by a large snarling black dog.

"Let go of him!" Hermione shrieked, attempting to pull the much larger man off her friend as Ron got between them, all the while trying to attract his parent's attention.

"Why don't you mind your own business you little freak?!" Vernon snarled, taking a step towards Hermione and forcing her to take a step back or risk getting squashed.

Rage spiked up inside Harry as his uncle threatened his friend. Vernon was distracted and as his grip on his nephew's hair loosened Harry tugged himself free, pulling his wand out of his waistband and pointing it threateningly at his uncle, knowing he couldn't use it. "You don't talk to her like that." He hissed angrily.

His uncle had apparently called his bluff however because rather than backing down he swelled up in fury, swinging his oversized fist straight for Harry's nose.

Harry felt two pairs of hands push him backwards, heard a high pitched scream, felt a sudden glowing warmth in his chest, and then nothing.

()()()()()

Mrs. Weasley was halfway through hugging the twins when she heard a scream and looked up to see Mrs. Granger running for her daughter. A wave of panic swelled up inside her as she saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione all lying motionless on the ground, with Padfoot sniffing them anxiously and the large form of Vernon Dursley running off in the distance.

She raced towards them, her family running behind her and dropped to her knees next to the unconscious teenagers. She ran a hand through Ron's hair, glancing anxiously up at her husband. "Arthur… what happened?"

"I don't know." Mr. Weasley glared at the retreating Dursley but didn't chase after him, they had more pressing issues at the moment. "We should get all three of them back to the burrow Molly we can find out what happened there."

She nodded, moving aside as her husband bent down and picked up their son. Mr. Granger copied him and the twins lifted up Harry. They hurried behind the closest pillar and disappeared, using side along apparition to transport them all to the burrow.

()()()()()

An hour later the residents of the burrow were about to go completely mad. The children had yet to regain consciousness and the atmosphere was grim. Out of convenience and because they didn't have a room with enough beds they had made a nest of cushions and blankets on the living room floor and placed all three of them on it. The twins and Ginny sat on the floor next to them, faces pale and eyes wide. Sirius was pacing anxiously, stopping every thirty second to run over and check on his godson. Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat next to their daughter in silence tears brimming in Hermione's mother's eyes.

At the one hour and one minute mark Mrs. Weasley stood up, making her way briskly to the fireplace, and pulling the floo powder towards her. "Arthur I'm going to go and fetch Poppy. They've been out too long this could be dangerous."

Without glancing back to see if her husband agreed with her Molly threw a handful of green powder into the fire, stepped in and yelled: "Hogwarts!"

She raced through the empty halls of the school, so distracted by her worry that as she turned a corner she ran headlong into Dumbledore. "Albus! I'm so sorry I didn't see you there. I'm sorry I can't talk now I have to get Madame Pomfrey we have a bit of a situation on our hands." She made to dart around him down the hallway but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Molly, Poppy is out at the moment helping to treat a particularly nasty case of Dragonpox down at saint Mungo's as it would appear the healers are a bit shorthanded. Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

Mrs. Weasley paused. She had yet to encounter a situation too difficult for the headmaster to fix. "Perhaps you can. We were at the train station earlier, picking up the kids and well… I'm not really sure what happened but by the time we got there that cow Vernon Dursley was running away and Harry, Ron and Hermione were on the ground and they haven't woken up yet." She gasped for breath, looking up at the headmaster hopefully.

Dumbledore furrowed his brow in consideration. "How long ago was this?"

"About an hour. That's why I'm so worried."

"Take me to them Molly, I may have an idea." Dumbledore swept back up the hallway, leaving Mrs. Weasley to hurry along behind him wishing not for the first time that Dumbledore would just once be upfront about his ideas.

()()()()()

The residents of the burrow watched anxiously as Dumbledore crouched next to the three unconscious teenagers, checking them over.

"So none of you saw what happened to them at the station?" Dumbledore inquired, pressing two fingers to Harry's neck to check his pulse.

"I did." Sirius spoke up for the first time in over an hour. "Harry's uncle grabbed him by the hair and was trying to drag him away, I think he was drunk. Then Ron tried to force him to let go and Hermione was yelling and then the asshat tried to punch him and Ron and Hermione moved in front of him. I couldn't do anything since I was a dog and couldn't transform in front of the muggles but he missed anyways, too much brandy I suppose. Then they all just collapsed. Dumbledore what happened to Harry?"

Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully, pressing the back of his hand to Ron's forehead.

"Um sir?" Mrs. Granger spoke up uncertainly, watching with wide eyes as Dumbledore pulled back Hermione's eyelid. "Is my daughter going to be okay?"

Dumbledore rose to his feet and turned to face her. "I believe so. I… may have a theory but I do not want to share it with you until I am sure. We will have to wait for the three of them to wake up which I am sure will be quite soon." Everybody relaxed just a little, whatever Dumbledore's theory was he didn't seem to think it was all bad news. "But once they wake up I will have just one test to run on before I can be certain. Can they be moved?"

()()()()()

Harry blinked awake, raising a hand to rub his pounding head and reaching sideways instinctively for his glasses. Putting them on he sat up and glanced around, finding himself alone. Suddenly an unexpected wave of pure panic washed over him. _He was alone._Where were his friends? Where were Ron and Hermione? He scrambled off the bed and darted to the door pulling uselessly on the handle only to find it locked. He felt panic overtake him, breath coming in short gasps as he backed away from the door, sinking to the ground and pulling his legs up towards his chest, dropping his head to his knees. In the back of his mind he could feel Hermione's anxiety as she searched for them and Ron's panic as he threw himself repeatedly at the door. But how could he feel them? The brief moment of rational thought was soon swept away and Harry threw his hands over his ears to try to block out the screaming that seemed to be coming from all three of them at once. Where were they? Where were they? _Where were they?_

He felt hands on his shoulders and looked up hopefully, only to crumple with disappointment as the worried face of his godfather appeared in front of him. This was not the face he wanted. He pushed past Sirius, jumping to his feet and racing out into the landing as two other doors crashed open and finally _finally_he could see them. They met in the middle of the landing and collapsed in each other arms, relief washing over them so powerfully they could have sworn it was magic.

The other residents of the house stood off to the side of the reunion, watching with open mouths and shocked expressions. Dumbledore turned to face them, his face a mixture of worry and polite fascination. "It is as I suspected. Their souls have been bonded."

**So what did you think? Is ****it worth continuing? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**here's chapter 2.**

**enjoy!**

Harry shrank further back into the couch. Ron and Hermione sat very close on either side of him, he could feel the nervousness rolling off of them. Professor Dumbledore sat perched on a chair in front of them, surveying all three with curious eyes in a way that was making Harry slightly unnerved. The others sat around them, in chairs or on the floor, eyes flicking back and forth between them impatiently.

Harry cleared his throat nervously. "Um professor? What happened to us?"

Dumbledore sighed, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs. "A soul bond Harry. Surely you've heard of them? Non I suppose not. Well-"

"Professor?" Hermione interrupted timidly. "It's just… there are no such things as soul bonds. Their children's stories. I learned all about them last year while I was doing a compare and contrast essay for muggle studies comparing muggle fairy tales to wizarding myths. There is no solid evidence that a true soul bond does or ever has existed."

Dumbledore smiled at her, eyes twinkling. "Yes and no Miss Granger. While there has never been a documented case of this before there have been a half a dozen undocumented cases. It takes a lot to bond two souls together: an act of pure friendship and bravery and selflessness. Of course if all it took to bind two together was to push them out of the way of danger there would be thousands of cases all over the world. No, in order to bind yourself to another you must already be bound through trust and a deep deep friendship. Given the amount you three have been through together I would say that you are perfect candidates wouldn't you agree?"

"Um… sure." Ron looked overwhelmed. "But you keep saying two souls. There are three of us aren't there?"

"Quite right Mr. Weasley, quite right." Dumbledore look pleased. "This would, I believe, make you three the first bonded trio in history. Very rare, very rare indeed."

Sirius stepped forward. "But what does this mean for them Dumbledore? Can they still live their lives? Can they still go to school?"

Dumbledore hesitated before continuing. "It will be very complicated but I believe so. The panic at separation should fade within a couple of days although some separation anxiety will remain I expect. They should be able to sense the others emotions and locations to some extent. It may have already started? Yes I thought as much. They may also soon be able to communicate telepathically which with some practice may prove itself to be very useful. However I should warn you that along with the rewards there is also great danger. Being separated for too long or by too much distance could be dangerous or potentially fatal. It would most certainly weaken them. There is also a risk of a more corporeal connection. By which I mean that if one gets injured the others will feel it, maybe even have injuries appear on their bodies. And of course if one were to die the others would join them." Dumbledore held up a hand at the instant wave of questions. "I hope that that is a theory we will never have to test but it is important that all of you know the risks." A pause. "However at least for now you are the only ones who can know them. Perhaps the greatest risk of a bond like this is that it is incredibly illegal. In the past they have been used by dark wizards for numerous reasons including surveillance and ministry infiltration. If the ministry of magic finds out about this bond they will try to undo it and we cannot have that."

Mrs. Granger moved a little closer. "Why not? If this bond is really that much of a risk to our daughter and her friends wouldn't the best thing be to undo it?"

Dumbledore sighed again, looking older then Harry had ever seen him. "If there was a safe way to do it then I would agree that it would be the safest thing however undoing a soul bond is extremely dangerous with a less than 50 percent survival rate. Which is why, at least for now, nobody outside of this room can know."

()()()()()

One chaotic and confusing week later they had made definite improvement. The three of them could stand to be apart for up to an hour at a time before the panic set in but they rarely took advantage of it. They had also been slowly starting to practice sensing each other mentally but apart from emotions and a sense of loss if one of them was far away they hadn't made much progress. They hadn't yet been able to talk mentally but they weren't giving up, encouraged constantly by the twins who couldn't wait to have that sort of prank pulling power at their disposal no matter how many times Hermione insisted she wouldn't help them. There was a lot to adjust to but they were getting there. Slowly.

Harry sighed, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. He stared out of the window to the front yard of the burrow watching Ginny de-gnome the garden. The part that he was having the most trouble coming to terms with was knowing that if he died he would kill his two best friends right along with him. He could tell that the others were worried about it too. He had noticed Mrs. Weasley and Sirius moving sharp things away from them or subtly herding them away from things like fireplaces. He was constantly almost dying and while he had never cared for it much before… this past week, being so connected to them so in sync… there was just much more at stake then there ever had been before.

"Harry?" Hermione called him from the doorway. He had known she was coming, of course. It was felt like two rubber bands stretching out from his chest and connecting to each of theirs. He always knew where they were in relation to him and if they were too far away the band would snap tighter, almost painfully. He turned to look at her. She smiled at him. "Mrs. Weasley says supper's nearly ready and also that professor Dumbledore is here and he wants to speak with us all as we eat.

Harry nodded and followed her down, meeting up with Ron at the bottom of the stairs. He could feel the others curiosity at the back of his mind, mingling with his own. Together they moved into the dining room and took their places at the table, gazing expectantly up at Dumbledore who had seated himself at the head of the table and was watching them with a twinkle in his eyes.

"How has this last week been for you three?" he inquired, leaning forward as if studying them.

Harry shrugged, unable to find the words to describe it. He felt Hermione shift uncomfortably next to him.

"Yes I expected as much." He smiled briefly then grew serious. "I have asked to speak with you all tonight because I have an unfortunate request regarding Harry's living arrangements for the rest of the summer."

"What do you mean?" Sirius demanded sharply. "He's going to stay here with me." At Mrs. Weasleys angry look he corrected himself. "With us I mean."

"You know that there is nothing I would rather have happen then Harry stay here with you Sirius but unfortunately that is not possible. You see thanks to his mother's protection the Dursley house remains safe for Harry but only if he returns there every summer. Now calm yourself Sirius not for the whole summer just until his birthday and you may accompany him if you wish in the form of Padfoot but I'm afraid this is non-negotiable. If Harry is to remain safe he must spend the next three weeks with his aunt and uncle."

"But Albus. What about Ron and Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley spoke up for both children as Mr. and Mrs. Granger had been sent home thanks to an unfortunate lack of rooms in the Weasley house.

"Yes professor." Ron protested. Harry could feel the anxiety coming off him in waves. "Harry can't leave us for that long we'll all go mad."

"No no Mr. Weasley of course not. You and Miss Granger will of course be joining him. It is the only way."

Mrs. Weasley looked like she was about to protest but was silenced by a look from her husband. It was the only way to keep them all safe.

"But sir?" Ginny asked. "How can this possibly be safe for any of them? After all it was Harry's uncle trying to hit him on the train station that started all of this in the first place."

Harry's head snapped back to Dumbledore. He hadn't considered that. What if his uncle tried to hurt his friends?

Dumbledore on the other hand didn't look the least bit bothered by this. "I have had words with Vernon Dursley miss Weasley and I can assure you that they will be quite safe."

Harry had to stop himself smiling at the mental image of professor Dumbledore walking up the pathway to number 4 privet drive to 'have words' with his uncle. "What did you say to him sir?"

Dumbledore smiled down at him. "I told him that if he were to in anyway harm any of you he would be receiving another visit from Hagrid and that this time the tail would not be nearly so removable."

Harry grinned, wishing more than anything that he could have witnessed that conversation. "Brilliant."

"It is. Pack your things your relatives are expecting you within the hour. And Harry? Be safe."

()()()()()

"Number 4 privet drive!" Harry threw the floo powder into the fire and was immediately swept into the floo network, watching for the Dursley's grate which Dumbledore had temporarily hooked up to the wizarding fire system. He tumbled out of the fire onto the Dursley's pristine rug, getting ash everywhere and thanking merlin that the Dursley's hadn't reinstalled their electronic fireplace.

He scramble to his feet as Ron fell out of the fire behind him closely followed by Hermione who managed it a little more gracefully, at least managing to land on her feet and pulling Padfoot along behind her. He gave Ron a hand up before sighing and pivoting to face his relatives who were staring open mouthed at the three teenagers who had just fallen out of their fireplace. Petunia looked positively faint at the mess of ash and dust now carpeting her living room.

Hermione stepped forward, smiling nervously before remembering who she was talking to and glaring daggers at uncle Vernon. "My names Hermione and this is Ron. Were Harry's friends."

Uncle Vernon grunted as though in disbelief then turned on his heal and stormed out of the room his wife following closely. Dudley gave Hermione a thorough once over before following them, smirking.

"Lovely people." Ron muttered sarcastically.

"yes." Hermione giggled. "Just delightful."

Harry joined in their laughter, leading them to the front door. "Come on. There isn't much to see here. Let me show you around."

()()()()()

They sat together, swinging peacefully on the swigs at the park off wisteria walk, Padfoot lying lazily at their feet. Ron and Hermione had had many questions about what it was like to grow up on privet drive with a family like the Dursley's but Harry had avoided most of them. Instead they were practicing sensing each other's emotions through the bond.

One of them would give the other a word and them the other two would have to try and sense how that word made them feel.

"Okay…" Ron paused to think. "Harry. Quidditch."

Hermione laughed. "That's an easy one Ron. Harry feels… happy. And excited."

Harry laughed, nodding. "Hermione. Rita Skeeter."

The wave of rage coming off of her was unmistakable.

Ron grinned. "I have another one for Hermione. Lockhart." Hermione threw a handful of woodchips at him but giggled. Suddenly the grins slid from their faces as they felt a wave of foreboding creep over Harry. The both turned to look at him, concerned. "Harry, what is it?"

They followed his gaze to see a large gang of large boys coming straight towards them that they presumed from Harry's descriptions had to be his cousin Dudley's gang.

**What did you think? And please review. If I don't get a good response to this chapter then I think that I'm going to give up this story and maybe work on something else. **


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